The European Parliament voted unanimously on Friday to reduce the use of plastic bags throughout the EU by 80 percent over the next ten years. Lawmakers specifically cited ‘plastic soup’ in our oceans as well as litter on land. Member governments will be able to choose between banning the bags altogether or agreeing to binding reduction targets.

Like in California, one impetus for the ban was the difficulty of member states faced navigating a patchwork of conflicting regulation across the Union. In California, grocery stores and other retailers support a state-wide ban to avoid inconsistent regulations across cities and counties.

For more information about the state-wide ban here in California, see our SB 270 page here.